I often credit Final Fantasy 4 as the game that taught me to read. By Grade 7 I had never read a book and was proud of it. Once I got wrapped onto the story, I was hooked. Loved reading ever since.
I never got to own or beat it, but my friend in junior high would let me come over to play it at his place as he had beaten it. I didn't even have a SNES, but the so caught up in it that I later traded one psx game (Romancing SaGa interestingly) for a friend's snes and all his snes games - including FF 3. Thinking it was the one I played back in junior high I was psyched... and then confused because I never got to go to the moon after I beat it. Took a few years to sort that out.
When all Four Fiends attack you at once inside the Giant of Babel, is still one of the most epic battles I've ever faced in a video game, even 30 years later....
What's funny about the use of "spoony" is that its archaicness in English goes a long way to convey Tellah's advanced age compared to the rest of the party. He's old-timey.
Man, that live action Final Fantasy commercial is so realistic. I remember, as a kid, whenever I would be playing a Final Fantasy game and my dad would come up to my window going "UHWAOW UHWAOW"... Good times...
One of my all time favorite games. I would keep my SNES on and fall asleep listening to the music. The Baron Castle theme certainly is in contention for the greatest video game track of all time.
This was my first RPG, and it will always have a very special place in my heart. Even though the U.S version gets a bad rap, as a 3rd grader it was an easy on-ramp to the jrpg genre that I still enjoy to this day nearly 30 years later. What kind of backstabbing is more frustrating than Kain's? What Love theme played at my Wedding? What summon is cooler than Odin? What Bard is spoonier than Edward?! I love this content, thank you so much for putting this together!
You’re welcome I’m glad you like it! Out of all the old rods back then FF2 was the easiest to get into like you said. As for Kain and his flip flopping it was like pixelated Shakespeare as far as I’m concerned 💎
I had an interesting and I suppose a little ignorant relationship with FFIV back when it first released as FFII in the US. At the time I *loved* Final Fantasy I on the NES. (I only got FFI because Nintendo Power sent a FFI strategy guide one month instead of a normal issue of the magazine and, as a kid, I could not figure out what genre of game it was from the screen shots and out of sheer curiosity I asked for it for Christmas). I played it constantly, beating the game over and over because I loved making new party combinations, naming them after my friends or characters I liked, and just having a different experience with it each time. At the time, the very simple and often non-existent stories of NES games had caused me to usually create my own stories for the games in my head as I played. This was something I had come to value as a kid, especially when playing FFI. Now Nintendo Power had an issue full of information about FFII, full of awful artwork too. I'm not sure who drew those American versions of the character art, but it was bad. But as cool as FFII looked, as much as I was obsessed with FFI still, what I hated was the fact that FFII gave you a forced party staggered through the game and didn't let you pick your own job classes or customize your party at all. That was a big enough deal to me as a kid that I didn't want to play it at all. I remember being mad at the game for those changed for years. I never even played the game until after FFIII was out, in fact. I was that stubborn. But a few years later, on a whim, I decided to rent FFIII at a Blockbuster Video and I fell completely in love with it, even crying when I had to return it to the Blockbuster. After that game, I had to go back and give FFII a chance, and I loved that too.
That character art was probably done by the people responsible for Mystic Quest. 😅 Because the OG art is done by the master mind behind Vampire Hunter D. 🤩
I was on a vacation with my parents and spent most of it reading that issue of Nintendo power and couldn't wait to get home to play it. There was a strategy guide too that came out and I still don't know why rubicant was so hard for me back then but I remember the artwork and everything. Very memorable
Most people forget that in Final Fantasy 4, there were a number of Aries moments. Some of which happened so fast you sometimes forget that they were gone and no goodbye to them. The twins Sacrificing themselves shook my heart when I was playing FF4 on the GBA version.
This oughta be something special. I think FFIV on GBA was my very first Final Fantasy experience, through some peculiar circumstances. NES and SNES RPGs didn't get much attention or respect from 90s kids like me, and by the time I fell in love with Earthbound and learned to appreciate the genre, those consoles were practically dead. I'd already invested in the N64, and while I was lucky to have Paper Mario in my life, I missed the hype for FFVII entirely, and felt left out. Then the GBA came along, and I got a chance to experience classic Final Fantasies for the first time, and I came to love them too. The characters, world, and especially the music of Final Fantasy IV have stuck around in a special part of my heart ever since. Helps that the boss battle music was also used in another formative game in my life, Super Mario RPG.
For me it was a race to the rental store on Friday after school to get the only copy if whatever rpg was new at the time. I loved them from day 1 but yeah they were expensive and sometimes hard to find
I remember when I first played this, as FFII. I was 13 at the time. I was so blown away by everything, the story, the graphics and the music. My god, the music was so good! My brother and I were at the video store and he rented the game. I said "No, don't get that one! That looks Stupid!" I'm glad I was wrong! It made him and myself big RPG fans from that point on! We were very ignorant of the numbering of the FF games back then, until we started reading EGM magazines. I remember seeing the import games catalog at the back of the issue and saw Final Fantasy V in it and got confused. Anyway, this is one of my favorite games in the classic series and I will forever hold it in the highest regard. Still is better than any of the more recent modern FF game these days.
Awesome story! I love hearing this kind of stuff! In my area there must have been a lot of rpg fans because those games were always rented out! Lali ho💎
I often find myself coming back to your older videos, not only because they’re so good, and you do an amazing job with them (that’s reason enough!) but also because I share your love for these games. It can be somewhat difficult to explain what it’s like watching your celebratory or tribute style videos. I’d say, it’s like talking to an old friend about a piece of art you both love. A game you both played, and enjoyed in your youth. But you’re doing all the talking! Haha😅 Anyways, thanks again for sharing your knowledge and love for these series. It’s great having a channel like yours that covers so much of the games, series, and culture I adore. Never stop!
Final Fantasy IV literally changed my life. A bit dramatic, I know, but it's the game that got me interested in mythology and the middle ages which consequently lead to me going for a history degree.
This will forever be the game where Uematsu dabbed on literally everybody else in the entire industry. His soundtrack was so beyond anything that came before it was simply uncanny. My 12yr old mind was blown.
God bless you for creating this retrospective for the first game of the Final Fantasy franchise that i ever played 😍 This is one of the most detailed retrospectives for FF IV that i have watched in the whole UA-cam 😁 A big fan of your work from Greece 😍
Fantastic! I recall stumbling onto this in the video game section of the local rental store and probably spending 30 or 40 bucks renting and re-renting it. What a wonderful game and I hate how overlooked it is.
This is an amazing retrospective! While I love Final Fantasy in general and have played through most of the series, FFIV is my personal favorite! I’ve come back to experience the game so many times, I couldn’t even accurately tell you how many times I’ve played through it across multiple platforms over 30 yrs. I think the score has been permanently seared into my brain at this point! As always, great video!
Thanks I’m glad you liked it! The anniversary is today! 🎂 out of the first 6 games I’d say 4 is my favorite too. Other than the original FF I’ve played it the most. FF1 I’ve played more because it’s older and easier to get thru. Lali ho!💎
GTV - Great coverage as always! You make 'awesome' standard so even a average video is incredible. You know how I've followed your series and your one of only a few UA-camrs I'm subscribed to with all notifications. This game brings back such fond memories; I met my best friend from Japan at the time and stayed with him and his family over the summer and remember playing the heck outta this thing. The music, graphics, story... it was all so incredible. That was such a memorable summer and I loved seeing Japan and learning about all of it... not just games and anime. You do the country so much credit and bring back fond memories. I won't write an essay this time. What can I say that hasn't been said about how great and unique you are amidst your peers? There is one thing I'd like to mention though. While this and FF3 (next year in America) were great, it told such a personal tale. And it showed that as Cecil's character, even as the leader who had done some bad things... there was light to be found and redemption. This really touched me as I was dealing with a recent loss of someone I had hurt (partially unknowingly) and thought it would never be the same again. But I did turn it around with persistence and atonement. Other favorite RPG's like Phantasy Star 2 taught me to truly treasure the important things as my girlfriend at the time died in a tragic car crash. So when Nei perished for real... it hit me hard. I had to put the game down for a while. Same with this one but in different moments and how every member of a team is valuable and working together might not always save the world and lose more than you gain in terms of material things... but you become blessed with the best of friends who are more important than anything. As such a young, impressionable kid... the Final Fantasy Series and Phantasy Star series were incredible and inspired a series of books that I wrote as I got older, strongly influenced by the the ideas of fun, friendship, love, forgiveness, cherishing the important things, and exploring new places and cultures. They were based a lot of these games and the events around them in my real life! So thank you for covering this. Thank you for your channel. And thank you for bringing back such wonderful memories. Hearing those songs again... damn, can't help but shed a tear. All my friends I've sent your way end up subscribing and loving your channel. And even if it's a painful memory once in a while... you take it with you, so you never forget, and get back up when you can. Usually with the help of my "role playing party" who know we each need help once in a while. Keep being awesome GTV! Keep this great content coming! And thank you... sincerely and truly for what you do. You help me really remember how games are forms of art and the lessons that go with them. Take care, my friend! I'd have you in my RPG party any day and be honored! =)
This is a heck of a video about an amazing game. So glad I have the GBA remakes! I hope someone from Square sees what is a stunning tribute to their work. Comprehensive and entertaining.
FF4 and 6 are still some of my favorite RPGs ever. Even after all this time. When I was growing up, my mom and dad didn't have a lot of money so I had to rent most of my games. I rented 4 and 6 so much the local video store sold my parents copies cheaply. I still have those cartridges and they will always mean the world to me.
the ds remake its awesome, remember beating while being very sick, and that game become something of a friend for me at that time, thanks for the video, great job man
THE game that got me into RPGs. I tried Dragon Warrior as a kid and it didn't quite click with me, but for whatever reason, this game just grabbed me from the start. My first D&D character was a Paladin thanks to Cecil.
Hm many reasons possibly! Thanks for this kind of sentiment I really appreciate it! First I’m right at 30,000 which is a huge number and I feel very fortunate to have that! There’s a lot of good channels that don’t make it this far. As for why the channel isn’t at 100,000 yet I think it’s because I don’t cover topics that are popular enough related to UA-cam search and discovery. Some of these topics are things that people don’t know exist (Taito online games, Mario marriage license, Famicom oven) or are not popular enough for lots of people to come across. But that’s fine. I’ll keep making the same videos whatever the subscribers number is! Thanks for the support 💎
@@one7decimal2eight I found the GBA version the most satisfying and it works on GB player if that is owned. The DS had an extra feature that was nice but lacked the end stories of the GBA version. The PS1 version on PS1 the load times are so long you can finish the SNES version 66% of the way through. But the Cutscenes were nice
The year before FF IV's release I was introduced to the genre through Final Fantasy Legend (SaGa is still one one of my favorite series to this day) when my cousin gave me his copy as he wasn't enjoying it. I somehow managed to convince my neighbor at the time to ask for FF II/IV for his birthday, I lacked a SNES, and Nintendo Power was critical in getting him on board. We must have spent dozens of hours that summer going through the game and struggling with the basics (we were 7 and aside from a strong love of fantasy had no concept of experience points relying solely on equipment). Eventually I got my own copy years later and despite FF VI overtaking it as my favorite game of all time still have probably bought every rerelease and remake over the years. I still get chills any time I hear the main theme and Kain remains as one of my favorite characters in gaming.
I played this game when it first came out on the snes. I had no idea characters had last names and no idea kain liked rosa as well. He seemed like a monk type character wanting to be by himself whereas Cecil was more of an emotionally unstable man due to having rosa in his life.
The last names were added in the remakes though I’m certain they were always applied since 1991 and existed in the Japanese manual. Thanks for watching 💎
@@GTV-Japan i always use the internet to find out the meaning of character names or to come up with my own when the game lets you name your party members by typing out random words then seeing how they're said or spelled in a different language
I don't even have time to watch this right now, but FFIV is one of my favorite games ever and I just have to comment preemptively to say I'm hyped to the moon to watch this haha.
Yeah I loved that! I actually like it better in 3/6 because that game didn’t really have a “leader” like Cecil. But when I realize how much money I lost by not de equipping when someone leaves it still gets me mad! Thanks for watching as always and rally ho!💎
Well I know some say “wise”. I thought that was an interesting point to bring up. If you go back to when I covered super Mario world, the very very first printed public announcement of the super Famicom mentions dragon quest V even though probably it was nothing more than an idea at the time. Getting the jump on everyone was a smart move. Of course Ys is pronounced in the TGCD version of the game but it is written in Japanese on the title screen for all games so if you know that the answer is always there. Thanks for watching and lali ho
I just finished replaying FFIV a few weeks ago. And I’m currently showing footage I captured with my Mother since I really like a lot of the early Final Fantasy games and wanted to show why it is I like them. And while FFIV is not the first FF game I’ve played. The first one that I played was FFX, it was actually the first one I was able to complete. And on the DS which is said to be one of if not the hardest Final Fantasy Games. Which would explain why I was able to beat the rest of them so easily. Also I had no idea that this week was the 30th Anniversary of FFIV, that’s perfect timing since we're still watching the cutscenes of FFIV this week. Great video!
I had played the original Dragon Warrior and a few other NES RPGs, but the SNES version of Final Fantasy II was one of the first RPGs that really captured my imagination. I saw it and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest in the same week. One of my closest friends had borrowed it from a neighbor of his who had loads of games, and I watched him play up to becoming a Paladin spending the night. The next day, we visited his neighbor, because he had just gotten Street Fighter II, and he had Mystic Quest as well, and we watched him play Pazuzu's tower. That week put Final Fantasy on my radar. Later, I bought my own copy of Final Fantasy II off of a coworker T my first job at a Taco Bell. I will never forget. I paid him $40, and I lent him my copy of Earthbound and the strategy guide. He quit and stole my Earthbound, which was my favorite game. This was before cell phones were ubiquitous, and I could never track him down. I did buy a used copy of Earthbound, but the strategy guide was beat up compared to my pristine original. To this day, I have 2 big Earthbound boxes as a result. Final Fantasy II later became my brother's favorite game for awhile. We used to sit in my bedroom while he played, and comically read the dialogue out loud. He was Rosa, and his falsetto "Oh, Cecil!" will always be hilariously outstanding in my mind.
This video's quality warrants SO MANY more views than what it has currently. Thank you very much for this excellent content! This is broadcast network level quality, well done.
Thanks I appreciate that! This video should get more viewed soon. It is very new after all. As far as UA-cam analytics goes this is the highest watched video on my channel as fast as view duration goes so once it goes through the first wave of recommendations I’m sure it will take off. So we shall see. Thanks for the support and lali ho! (Or hi ho if you’re in tomra)💎
I'd have to say that the DS version is my favorite. They did a great job with the visuals, voice acting, and cut scenes. I also enjoyed the upped difficulty, as I like my games challenging.
The greatest of all Final Fantasies. I can't even describe in words the experience I had with this masterpiece. FF1 was a little too much for me as a young kid. I rented it once and borrowed it from a friend as well, but not having the manual and map prevented me from figuring out where to go and what to do. I did not encounter this problem with FF2 for the SNES, the difficulty was just right for a kid my age. Cecil f'n Harvey and his journey hooked me from the start. People can rant all they want about FF3 for the SNES and FF7 for the PS1, but this is the game that made me a fan of rpgs. The box-art for this game is also legendary, it draws eyes like no other (except maybe Mega Man 1). This is one of the greatest games of all time and in my personal "Top-5" list of all games. P.S. I always use the spoon on Odin instead of saving it for Zeromus...need to deal with that mofo real quick.
@@GTV-Japan I always have Edge throw the spoon to get his health down and then have Rydia use Lit3 when Odin raises his sword up into the air. P.S. I hope your next Fantasy video is on the good, really long one and not on the really dumb one with the broken 3,000-job system.
I know I love it! I think this one was made a little after the game was out to show that the viewer should have known already. Thanks for watching and Lali-ho!
This was absolutely wonderful! Thank you - can't wait to re-re-re-re-revisit FFIV when the Pixel Remasters hit PlayStation (hopefully sooner than) later this year
Final Fantasy IV is still my favorite to this day. I can play any version of this game and still have as much fun with it now as i did the first time got through it on my SNES!
I owe so much to this game. It still has the best soundtrack in the series (and my favorite VG OST ever). I play through FFIV annually. I’ll never let myself forget it.
I have an older brother which is how I ended up playing this as a kid. I'm pretty sure I didn't really understand what was going on when I played it but I loved it. I literally was like the ultimate 90s kid in that commercial whose dad wants him to go do something and he's like "no waaayyy man let me finish this level." Made us late for school or something once - I vividly remember it was in the underworld with the dwarves - and FF2(IV) literally became the reason we couldn't play games in the morning as kids afterward.
That’s a great story thanks for sharing! The good thing about rpgs is that there is no “this level” in a traditional sense. So of course the game can go on forever! Rally ho!💎
@@GTV-Japan Yeah in hindsight it would be more accurate to say in my case that we were trying to get to the next save point before we went to school. I really remember it vividly lol.
While it may not be my personal favourite Final Fantasy, that title belongs to FFIX, IV holds a really special place in my heart, especially the 3D remake. I owe my love of Dragoons to Kain lol. I almost wish there was another Final Fantasy title that implemented a 5-character party, but I don't think it'd be as well utilized as it was here. On a different note, I really wished that the 3D remake set the standard, as I would've loved to see Bartz, Terra, and even Zidane in that style with complete voice acting. I know that's more than likely the last thing from a priority for Square Enix, but it never hurts to hold onto hope. Oh, and one last thing. Not sure if this counts, but technically speaking, my first exposure to FFIV was actually with the Culex boss fight in Super Mario RPG. Man, even to this day IV's boss theme is my favourite in the entire series.
I've mentioned this several times now but since I lived in aus I missed out on most jrpg's, but managed to get hold of final fantasy 6 and absolutely LOVED it. It wasn't until many years later following the awesome final fantasy 7 that I ended up getting hold of the anthology and playing through both 4 and 5. Thanks to this video I bought the psp after years collection and tonight, have just ascended to the moon again. The themes in this game are so amazing, hollow earth theory, crystaline structures on the moon...all inspired by real life no doubt :) actually all the themes of the early jrpgs are what got me into things like archeology (illusion of time) astronomy (phantasy star) and holllow earth (terranigma). Great video mate, loved it
Deeply enjoying this video, thank you so much for your hard work. Quick note at 3:10, Final Fantasy Legends (as released in NA) series were the SaGa games in Japan, with Final Fantasy Adventure (In NA) being the first Seiken Densetsu game. Very easy mistake to make due to naming conventions, but actually two vastly different series.
Yeah I know. I go into more detail about that later. And it is soooo confusing. Much easier to just call them all FF and have fun with it. Thanks for watching 💎
@@GTV-Japan Working through the video during my workday, so I apologize if you reconcile this later on. Again incredible quality and effort in this and all of your videos. I really respect what you do. Thanks for sharing your enthusiastic work with us, it's always a great time.
I loved this game more than you can imagine back in the day. I did also like FF1 but this game is what made me a FF fan. The graphics, the music and the story were unprecedented at the time. Another thing people don't seem to mention about this game (and later FF games) is that even though they're RPGs they have the pacing of an action game. Not just the Active Time Battle but also the fact that there is no need to grind and the plot is always moving forward giving you a new objective to accomplish. If it wasn't for this fast-paced style, I don't think FF7 would have been as popular. Unfortunately, Final Fantasy games have changed so much that this formula doesn't exist anymore.
Totally agree with you and the guides Nintendo made even paced it like there were stages to the game. I loved the graphical upgrades. Especially the clocks and candles that had motion in the background! Thanks for watching and lali ho!
Man this is by far the best FFIV retrospective in the whole youtube 👏👏 I Thought I knew everything but you introduced me to many uknown facts & easter eggsthat i wouldn't have found by myself 😁 I hope that you will create more retrospectives about our favourite and beloved FF games 😍
Great retrospective! Although I was slightly disappointed to not see UA-camr Spoony mentioned during the origins of the word spoony part, he named himself after that line!
This is a massive video dude. Awesome stuff! I never got to beat the game, the monsters on the moon totally kicked my ass back then. Kinda good to see how it went off.
Thanks old friend for liking the video! I made it to the moon dozens of times but only beat it a few times. Actually the game is pretty easy to make thru until the moon yeah for sure. I think I beat it once on snes and once on PlayStation maybe my brother also beat it on snes but fuzzy memories. Have a good weekend! Lali ho! 💎
I was 12 or 13 when I first got this game. I owned the original but never beat it. Was going through some stuff back then, so this game was an escape for me. Something about the story, the characters, the music, the world just captured my imagination. I completely fell in love with everything about this game, and the day I beat it and saw that ending for the first time was one of the absolute highlights of my pre-teen years. And it took forever...I lost to Zeromus dozens of times before leveling up enough and understanding how to defeat him. Perhaps more profound than the emotional experience was the fact that this game inspired me to write my own stories, and the first thing I ever wrote was a sequel to this. It was terrible of course, I was 13, but thirty years later I've got two books published and have written two award-winning screenplays, so...I think it stuck! And I can't articulate the experience of buying my son FFIV for the DS and watching him play it for the first time, running up to me when Kain turns on Cecil or when he learns Golbez is Cecil's brother. Seeing those old plot twists through his young eyes was refreshing. Now he's moved out but this remains one of his favorite games, too. Square did something truly extraordinary here. This is another fantastic video; so much great content, lovingly researched and presented in a clear, professional, compelling way. Gonna keep binging on these. Thank you for the care and effort in these vids, they're fantastic.
You are one of my favorite channels on this site, I really enjoy seeing the Japanese commercials, and remembering how horrible the marketing was for gaming in the west was sometimes in the 90s. Honestly don't enjoy a lot of the modern final fantasy games, and 4 and 6 are easily my favorite in the series. Hope you will cover the Mana series in the future!
@@GTV-Japan fair enough, I understand, maybe someday you can get to it, as both it and the chrono series needs new entries. I'm glad trials of mana got released in the west, but i really didn't like the attempt at 3d.
I can say that someday I’ll cover the entire final fantasy series and the major spin-offs saga mana trigger and racing! It might take 10 years but sure!
I can’t wait to play final fantasy IV when I get my psp version hopefully soon. Man i absolutely love this video and your history of gaming videos, keep up the good work.
@@GTV-Japan that’s awesome and I can’t wait to see final fantasy V probably get me interesting to playing V in the future as I am a big fan of the final fantasy series
@@GTV-Japan yeah as it focuses on the different jobs and the engaging combat which I absolutely love but can’t wait to experience whenever I get the game
Ok you told me in a comment that you were working on this one earlier this year so I've been looking forward to it. I gotta admit, this blew my expectations out of the water. What an absolute joy it was to watch this. This is easily my favorite game of all time, I've played through almost every remake and the story and adventure always feel brand new to me. It's just such a great game, and as always your mini documentary on it was amazing! I even learned a few things I never knew, like that the secret boss version of Zeromus in the GBA game was the one from the JP easy version. And you're telling me now that the word tsundere, which every otaku worth their salt knows is the origin of Edward being "spoony"? Granted the word's connotation has undoubtedly evolved since 1991, it's still funny to think of him alongside other anime characters you think of when you hear the word. In any case, this has been my favorite of your videos so far. It's definitely gonna be in my rewatch rotation. Thank you so much for this incredible work, GTV-san! (Oh and one final thing in this overly long comment, thank you also for emphasizing the difference between ATB and turn based. So many people call ATB rpgs turn based, and it's a minor pet peeve of mine. It's so refreshing when someone knows the difference.)
Thanks I’m glad you like the video and it met your expectations!! Being in Japan I’ve seen some people try to translate things into English using spoony. Of course they don’t know what they’re saying but yea I’ve known this a while now. I do like the redesigned zeromus actually. He looks like something real and dangerous instead of some strange alien shell or whatever As for ATB yeah it isn’t turn based if you don’t have time to take turns. Personally I hated ATB and was so happy when true turn based returned for ffx! But I will admit it makes things seem more real. Thanks for watching as always! Rally ho!💎
FF IV was my first FF. I played for the first time when I was 6 on a SNES emulator on PS2. I expended countless hours playing with my gramma trying to figure out where to go after the tragedy on Rydia's village since we didn't knew any english that the time. I remember vividly booting the PS2 day after day just to hear the songs again. I didn't get to finish the game until 2018 when I got a used DS from my mom. It was so fun to finally played again, even tho gramma is not here anymore. FF IV was the one who made me fall in love with the franchise. Am so happy for it to be my first one.
Man I love this game. I borrowed Final Fantasy X from a friend back in the day and absolutely loved the story. It made me laugh and cry both in the same scenes multiple times. This was due to the translation differences. While the audio was the regular english translation the german subtiles I was reading were from the original japanese version. It was hilarious to read the difference between the different versions. Afterwards I borrowed FF X-2 from a different friend and that was... different. The story felt like a bad fanfiction written by a 12 year old girl. So then my goal became to play every final fantasy game and decide which was the best. My next game was final fantasy 3 on the DS. There was not a whole lot of story but the choices with the different classes made the game incredible in terms of gameplay. So after beating part 3 which could I possibly choose next? This was when I bought Final Fantasy 4 for the Nintendo DS and I was blown away. It was very different from the 3rd game. The focus on story was a very welcome edition to my gaming expirience. Also during the animated cutscenes the game had voiceacting which was at an extremly high quality. Having to rebuild your team every time you get separated was cool. Some say that Kain betraying you multiple times was bad storytelling and unimaginitive. While I understand that problem I felt so relieved every time Kain came back because I F*CKING love the Dragoneer class and Kain had such a cool aura I couldn't stay mad at him for long. My favorite part was when Edge got his full strength. When you first get Edge I was so mad. I wanted to keep Yang and in his place I got this useless piece of work Edge. He was so god damm weak I wanted to get rid of him so badly. That was of course until you face the firefiend and he starts teasing Edge that anger is a weakness. "If you think anger is a weakness. Than I will show you how weak I am." -Edges full power has been enabled. Still one of my absolute favorite moments in the entire series. And I played through the game so many times. I also played the After years on the Wii which I enjoyed mostly. Except for the part where they make you fight EVERY BOSS that was based on a 2D sprite from previous games. I went nuts beating like 40 bosses or something. I wish I could play that spritebased version for the PSP on a modern plattform. The artstyle looks gorgeous. I never played other versions of Final Fantasy 4 but maybe I should. Just to see where it all came from and I do have the SNES game on a multicard.
My entry into the FF series and JRPGs as a whole. FF 3/6 is my fav FF, but FF 2/4 carries serious, undeniable weight with me (I'm still a Phantasy Star guy at the end of the day). I've watched many takes on this game, and this video gives it the most respect, no question. I may not speak for everyone, but please GTV, find some way to sell out and get sponsors so you can be adequately compensated for your incredible work
Thanks for the kind words! Im also a phantasy star guy too but the sheer number of games makes FF a better series in some regards. There’s always more to play. As for selling out. I can’t do it. Just click on the ads. I get money from that. Even if I was paid a million dollars I wouldn’t want some junk ad for a mobile game or electric razor clogging up this video. Also since the watch time of this video is the longest ever on the channel I’ll be going back to more FF games in the future and of course revisit phantasy star when the time is right 💎lali ho!
Beautiful documentary! I would only use the world "JRPG" instead of "RPG" when talking about the western world not knowing the genre in the 80s, or FFVII being the first game to break through commercially: the Ultima series, Eye of the Beholder, Dungeon Master, etc. etc. were massive hits way before 1997. Kudos for the excellent work anyway!!
i can speak to the truth to the price of RPGs back then, i got FF2 (US 2) for my birthday when it was new and though i was young i remember hearing my mom saying how much more expensive it was compared to every other games there was at the time. she really loved me and i miss her a lot
Big fan of your work. I coudln't stop luaghing at the intro when you said "this is GTV ....ラリホー". The little melody that followed, what was that from? it sound sounds familiar. Great stuff!
That’s the humming way song!! 🐰 I always include some kind of sound effect and phrase from the topic at the start of each video to pump up the audience! Thanks for being a big fan and supporting the channel! Rally ho!💎
I can tell you that Quintet is on the list for 2022! Enough people requested it so expect it near the start of next season! Sorry for such a long wait but the pipeline is already backed up 😞
@@GTV-Japan That is so amazing to hear! the waiting will be worth it! Quintet made some of my all time favorite games, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Time/Gaia and the masterpiece Terranigma! And of course the games after the Quintet era like Grandstream Saga or Orphen are also great and obscure. Thank you for your amazing work!
@@GTV-Japan Yeah but you should mention also the story of the company, their games and specially of Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, who previously worked on Falcom on the first 2 Ys games and founded the company after.
If you love Final Fantasy IV in any of its forms, please share your stories, opinions and memories with us!
Getting Petrify for the first time. Or when The world Opens in Final Fantasy 3 (NDS)
I often credit Final Fantasy 4 as the game that taught me to read. By Grade 7 I had never read a book and was proud of it. Once I got wrapped onto the story, I was hooked. Loved reading ever since.
I love this channel and ff4 so much. Great morning for me! 🔥
I never got to own or beat it, but my friend in junior high would let me come over to play it at his place as he had beaten it. I didn't even have a SNES, but the so caught up in it that I later traded one psx game (Romancing SaGa interestingly) for a friend's snes and all his snes games - including FF 3. Thinking it was the one I played back in junior high I was psyched... and then confused because I never got to go to the moon after I beat it. Took a few years to sort that out.
Final Fantasy 2 US! This is the best RPG of all time! Best story!
Square Enix merger is the worst thing that happened to Squaresoft.
Dude, you do the absolute best video game essays on UA-cam. Please never ever stop.
I can’t say the end is near! I’ll keep going. Thanks for the support! 💎
When all Four Fiends attack you at once inside the Giant of Babel, is still one of the most epic battles I've ever faced in a video game, even 30 years later....
Yeah! Brutal! Thanks for watching and rally ho!💎
What's funny about the use of "spoony" is that its archaicness in English goes a long way to convey Tellah's advanced age compared to the rest of the party. He's old-timey.
Oh yeah. I guess that’s true too! Never thought of that
Man, that live action Final Fantasy commercial is so realistic. I remember, as a kid, whenever I would be playing a Final Fantasy game and my dad would come up to my window going "UHWAOW UHWAOW"... Good times...
Oh yeah that was everyone’s dad back in those days. Thanks for watching! 💎
Oh that's nice, you didn't get the "MOW THE LAWN" and "DO YOUR HOMEWORK", you got "UHWAOW" instead LOL
One of my all time favorite games. I would keep my SNES on and fall asleep listening to the music. The Baron Castle theme certainly is in contention for the greatest video game track of all time.
Yes!! The timpani really gives it that perfect feel! My personal fav is Troia but it still doesn’t have that certain feeling baron has 💎
This was my first RPG, and it will always have a very special place in my heart. Even though the U.S version gets a bad rap, as a 3rd grader it was an easy on-ramp to the jrpg genre that I still enjoy to this day nearly 30 years later. What kind of backstabbing is more frustrating than Kain's? What Love theme played at my Wedding? What summon is cooler than Odin? What Bard is spoonier than Edward?!
I love this content, thank you so much for putting this together!
You’re welcome I’m glad you like it! Out of all the old rods back then FF2 was the easiest to get into like you said. As for Kain and his flip flopping it was like pixelated Shakespeare as far as I’m concerned 💎
Bahamut is a cooler summon than Odin.
Now this is a great start to a weekend. A brand new 60 min episode of GTV covering FFIV? Yes please! Let's go!!
Thanks Cameron! Have a good weekend 💎
Best gift I got today was finding a new GTV in my notifications. Thank you very much good Sir!
Hey Lee! Good to see you again! Rally ho! 💎
I had an interesting and I suppose a little ignorant relationship with FFIV back when it first released as FFII in the US. At the time I *loved* Final Fantasy I on the NES. (I only got FFI because Nintendo Power sent a FFI strategy guide one month instead of a normal issue of the magazine and, as a kid, I could not figure out what genre of game it was from the screen shots and out of sheer curiosity I asked for it for Christmas). I played it constantly, beating the game over and over because I loved making new party combinations, naming them after my friends or characters I liked, and just having a different experience with it each time. At the time, the very simple and often non-existent stories of NES games had caused me to usually create my own stories for the games in my head as I played. This was something I had come to value as a kid, especially when playing FFI.
Now Nintendo Power had an issue full of information about FFII, full of awful artwork too. I'm not sure who drew those American versions of the character art, but it was bad. But as cool as FFII looked, as much as I was obsessed with FFI still, what I hated was the fact that FFII gave you a forced party staggered through the game and didn't let you pick your own job classes or customize your party at all. That was a big enough deal to me as a kid that I didn't want to play it at all. I remember being mad at the game for those changed for years. I never even played the game until after FFIII was out, in fact. I was that stubborn. But a few years later, on a whim, I decided to rent FFIII at a Blockbuster Video and I fell completely in love with it, even crying when I had to return it to the Blockbuster. After that game, I had to go back and give FFII a chance, and I loved that too.
Thanks for sharing your memories! I was also obsessed with FF1 I must have played that 19 times over l. Nintendo really knew how to promote games. 💎
That character art was probably done by the people responsible for Mystic Quest. 😅
Because the OG art is done by the master mind behind Vampire Hunter D. 🤩
I was on a vacation with my parents and spent most of it reading that issue of Nintendo power and couldn't wait to get home to play it. There was a strategy guide too that came out and I still don't know why rubicant was so hard for me back then but I remember the artwork and everything. Very memorable
I love stories like this. Very relatable
@@rpg_tai_yggdrasil Hey Ygg, what's the name on that master mind?
Most people forget that in Final Fantasy 4, there were a number of Aries moments.
Some of which happened so fast you sometimes forget that they were gone and no goodbye to them.
The twins Sacrificing themselves shook my heart when I was playing FF4 on the GBA version.
Love listening to the worlds most famous channel, when playing my old games.
Thanks for the support!
This oughta be something special. I think FFIV on GBA was my very first Final Fantasy experience, through some peculiar circumstances.
NES and SNES RPGs didn't get much attention or respect from 90s kids like me, and by the time I fell in love with Earthbound and learned to appreciate the genre, those consoles were practically dead. I'd already invested in the N64, and while I was lucky to have Paper Mario in my life, I missed the hype for FFVII entirely, and felt left out.
Then the GBA came along, and I got a chance to experience classic Final Fantasies for the first time, and I came to love them too. The characters, world, and especially the music of Final Fantasy IV have stuck around in a special part of my heart ever since. Helps that the boss battle music was also used in another formative game in my life, Super Mario RPG.
Thise consoles will NEVER die, friend!
I grew up in the 90's and when I turned 7 I'm 1995 I tried to find affordable RPGs since money was tight...
For me it was a race to the rental store on Friday after school to get the only copy if whatever rpg was new at the time. I loved them from day 1 but yeah they were expensive and sometimes hard to find
@@GTV-Japan the RPGs were always gone at my local stores. Had to go to a place 3 cities over
I remember when I first played this, as FFII. I was 13 at the time. I was so blown away by everything, the story, the graphics and the music. My god, the music was so good!
My brother and I were at the video store and he rented the game. I said "No, don't get that one! That looks Stupid!" I'm glad I was wrong! It made him and myself big RPG fans from that point on!
We were very ignorant of the numbering of the FF games back then, until we started reading EGM magazines. I remember seeing the import games catalog at the back of the issue and saw Final Fantasy V in it and got confused.
Anyway, this is one of my favorite games in the classic series and I will forever hold it in the highest regard. Still is better than any of the more recent modern FF game these days.
Awesome story! I love hearing this kind of stuff! In my area there must have been a lot of rpg fans because those games were always rented out! Lali ho💎
Honestly, this is my favorite one. The story is so beautiful, I first played it on my DS and I was addicted
That’s cool. Thanks for sharing!
I often find myself coming back to your older videos, not only because they’re so good, and you do an amazing job with them (that’s reason enough!) but also because I share your love for these games.
It can be somewhat difficult to explain what it’s like watching your celebratory or tribute style videos. I’d say, it’s like talking to an old friend about a piece of art you both love. A game you both played, and enjoyed in your youth. But you’re doing all the talking! Haha😅
Anyways, thanks again for sharing your knowledge and love for these series. It’s great having a channel like yours that covers so much of the games, series, and culture I adore.
Never stop!
Thanks old pal and happy new year
This game,6,7,and 8 are,to me,the greatest Final Fantasy games.
8 certainly had the best music!
These retrospectives are unbelievable, and your channel is way underrated.
Thanks for the support! Eventually I’ll do each FF game. At least the first 10!
Final Fantasy IV literally changed my life. A bit dramatic, I know, but it's the game that got me interested in mythology and the middle ages which consequently lead to me going for a history degree.
Awesome! Preserve Western Civilization by teaching it to the next generation!
This will forever be the game where Uematsu dabbed on literally everybody else in the entire industry.
His soundtrack was so beyond anything that came before it was simply uncanny. My 12yr old mind was blown.
I often left the game running in the house just to hear the music!
This is by far my favorite channel on UA-cam. Another banger~
Rally ho! 💎
God bless you for creating this retrospective for the first game of the Final Fantasy franchise that i ever played 😍 This is one of the most detailed retrospectives for FF IV that i have watched in the whole UA-cam 😁 A big fan of your work from Greece 😍
Thanks I appreciate it! It was one of my fav games ever so it was a joy to make and share with others! Lali ho!!💎
This is my favorite of the entire Final Fantasy series to this day. Thank you for taking the time and love to make this video.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you like it! I just released the one on V yesterday so if you want to check that out go ahead. Have a great weekend 🌟🌟
Fantastic! I recall stumbling onto this in the video game section of the local rental store and probably spending 30 or 40 bucks renting and re-renting it. What a wonderful game and I hate how overlooked it is.
I’d say it’s worth 10 times more than that! Thanks for watching!!
I had a neighbor that used to lend me this all the time back then. Still one of my most favorite FF games of all time.
That’s a good neighbor!! 💎
This is an amazing retrospective!
While I love Final Fantasy in general and have played through most of the series, FFIV is my personal favorite! I’ve come back to experience the game so many times, I couldn’t even accurately tell you how many times I’ve played through it across multiple platforms over 30 yrs. I think the score has been permanently seared into my brain at this point!
As always, great video!
Thanks I’m glad you liked it! The anniversary is today! 🎂 out of the first 6 games I’d say 4 is my favorite too. Other than the original FF I’ve played it the most. FF1 I’ve played more because it’s older and easier to get thru. Lali ho!💎
GTV - Great coverage as always! You make 'awesome' standard so even a average video is incredible. You know how I've followed your series and your one of only a few UA-camrs I'm subscribed to with all notifications. This game brings back such fond memories; I met my best friend from Japan at the time and stayed with him and his family over the summer and remember playing the heck outta this thing. The music, graphics, story... it was all so incredible.
That was such a memorable summer and I loved seeing Japan and learning about all of it... not just games and anime. You do the country so much credit and bring back fond memories. I won't write an essay this time. What can I say that hasn't been said about how great and unique you are amidst your peers? There is one thing I'd like to mention though.
While this and FF3 (next year in America) were great, it told such a personal tale. And it showed that as Cecil's character, even as the leader who had done some bad things... there was light to be found and redemption. This really touched me as I was dealing with a recent loss of someone I had hurt (partially unknowingly) and thought it would never be the same again. But I did turn it around with persistence and atonement. Other favorite RPG's like Phantasy Star 2 taught me to truly treasure the important things as my girlfriend at the time died in a tragic car crash. So when Nei perished for real... it hit me hard. I had to put the game down for a while. Same with this one but in different moments and how every member of a team is valuable and working together might not always save the world and lose more than you gain in terms of material things... but you become blessed with the best of friends who are more important than anything.
As such a young, impressionable kid... the Final Fantasy Series and Phantasy Star series were incredible and inspired a series of books that I wrote as I got older, strongly influenced by the the ideas of fun, friendship, love, forgiveness, cherishing the important things, and exploring new places and cultures. They were based a lot of these games and the events around them in my real life! So thank you for covering this. Thank you for your channel. And thank you for bringing back such wonderful memories. Hearing those songs again... damn, can't help but shed a tear. All my friends I've sent your way end up subscribing and loving your channel. And even if it's a painful memory once in a while... you take it with you, so you never forget, and get back up when you can. Usually with the help of my "role playing party" who know we each need help once in a while.
Keep being awesome GTV! Keep this great content coming! And thank you... sincerely and truly for what you do. You help me really remember how games are forms of art and the lessons that go with them. Take care, my friend! I'd have you in my RPG party any day and be honored! =)
Thanks for the kind words as always! A fine essay 🍺. Hope you’re doing well and thanks for the support as always
This is a heck of a video about an amazing game. So glad I have the GBA remakes!
I hope someone from Square sees what is a stunning tribute to their work. Comprehensive and entertaining.
Thanks I appreciate the support as always ! I hope someone from square is watching that would be cool!💎
FF4 is my favorite game of all time. Loved watching this video! Thank you for making it!
You’re welcome! Lali ho💎
FF4 and 6 are still some of my favorite RPGs ever. Even after all this time. When I was growing up, my mom and dad didn't have a lot of money so I had to rent most of my games. I rented 4 and 6 so much the local video store sold my parents copies cheaply. I still have those cartridges and they will always mean the world to me.
Nice! I owned few games too. Renting was cheaper. Much cheaper and variety
This was my first RPG and the one who got me hooked into the genre. Amazing game that holds up surprisingly well IMO. And that kick ass sound track 🎉
The soundtrack is great!
the ds remake its awesome, remember beating while being very sick, and that game become something of a friend for me at that time, thanks for the video, great job man
Happy to hear you made a recovery
Haven't played this game much, but have listened to the soundtrack for thousands of hours.
That’s cool so why not give the game another go!
I briefly played FFIV at a friend's house on PS1 but didn't get to really dig into it until it was released on DS. Loved it 🔥
That game had some soul to it... great vibe, great story, great mechanics... unexpected twists
That’s why it’s the greatest!
THE game that got me into RPGs. I tried Dragon Warrior as a kid and it didn't quite click with me, but for whatever reason, this game just grabbed me from the start. My first D&D character was a Paladin thanks to Cecil.
That’s cool! Thanks for sharing your story
How can this channel not have 100k subscribers yet?
Hm many reasons possibly! Thanks for this kind of sentiment I really appreciate it! First I’m right at 30,000 which is a huge number and I feel very fortunate to have that! There’s a lot of good channels that don’t make it this far. As for why the channel isn’t at 100,000 yet I think it’s because I don’t cover topics that are popular enough related to UA-cam search and discovery. Some of these topics are things that people don’t know exist (Taito online games, Mario marriage license, Famicom oven) or are not popular enough for lots of people to come across. But that’s fine. I’ll keep making the same videos whatever the subscribers number is! Thanks for the support 💎
My kids and I are playing FFIV at the moment. How fortuitous that you uploaded this so we can watch it after ;)
Which version? Hopefully snes as the other versions are much more grindy
@@one7decimal2eight I found the GBA version the most satisfying and it works on GB player if that is owned. The DS had an extra feature that was nice but lacked the end stories of the GBA version. The PS1 version on PS1 the load times are so long you can finish the SNES version 66% of the way through. But the Cutscenes were nice
It’s like I have esp! Thanks for watching as always 💎
You sir, are an awesome father.
I love your inclusion of the commercials. They are all downright hilarious!
I appreciate that!
@@GTV-JapanPRESENTED BY SQUARE! 😊
Can’t believe Bumper Car Karaoke got pre-empted for this 😉 Seriously though, amazing episode as always. Please never stop making these❤️
I can’t promise I’ll never stop but I have dozens more topics to cover that will take years. Thanks for watching and rally ho!💎
The year before FF IV's release I was introduced to the genre through Final Fantasy Legend (SaGa is still one one of my favorite series to this day) when my cousin gave me his copy as he wasn't enjoying it. I somehow managed to convince my neighbor at the time to ask for FF II/IV for his birthday, I lacked a SNES, and Nintendo Power was critical in getting him on board. We must have spent dozens of hours that summer going through the game and struggling with the basics (we were 7 and aside from a strong love of fantasy had no concept of experience points relying solely on equipment). Eventually I got my own copy years later and despite FF VI overtaking it as my favorite game of all time still have probably bought every rerelease and remake over the years. I still get chills any time I hear the main theme and Kain remains as one of my favorite characters in gaming.
That’s a great story! You convinced your friend to get it because you couldn’t wait! ha I love it!
These are the voyages of the airship, Enterprise. Lol love this game and story. Great retelling .
Thanks! Almost time to star making FFV!
I played this game when it first came out on the snes. I had no idea characters had last names and no idea kain liked rosa as well. He seemed like a monk type character wanting to be by himself whereas Cecil was more of an emotionally unstable man due to having rosa in his life.
The last names were added in the remakes though I’m certain they were always applied since 1991 and existed in the Japanese manual. Thanks for watching 💎
@@GTV-Japan well cecil's last name is pretty fitting, it means eager for battle; strong and worthy
Oh I didn’t know that! Cool!!!
@@GTV-Japan i always use the internet to find out the meaning of character names or to come up with my own when the game lets you name your party members by typing out random words then seeing how they're said or spelled in a different language
Oh that’s really cool!
I never realized how much 4 influenced 7!
This has me so excited to watch. Your docs are top notch. (Unintentional rhyme)
Thanks so much for the kind words, the best I’ve ever heards 💎
That over world theme ... the nostalgia
all of them really, but yes!!!!
@@GTV-Japan agreed, who am I kidding haha
For me it’s Troia. Such a good theme. But the waterway and cids theme also great anytime
First time I heard Troia I knew FF music was going to be a special part of my life haha
The piano rendition is amazing
I don't even have time to watch this right now, but FFIV is one of my favorite games ever and I just have to comment preemptively to say I'm hyped to the moon to watch this haha.
Thanks! I hope you’ll enjoy it when the time comes! 💎
I thought it was really neat how you had many different characters joining, leaving and joining the party again at different times.
Yeah I loved that! I actually like it better in 3/6 because that game didn’t really have a “leader” like Cecil. But when I realize how much money I lost by not de equipping when someone leaves it still gets me mad! Thanks for watching as always and rally ho!💎
I finally found time to watch this. I’m impressed as always. Especially with you being the only person I’ve ever heard say *Ys* correctly. XD
Well I know some say “wise”. I thought that was an interesting point to bring up. If you go back to when I covered super Mario world, the very very first printed public announcement of the super Famicom mentions dragon quest V even though probably it was nothing more than an idea at the time. Getting the jump on everyone was a smart move. Of course Ys is pronounced in the TGCD version of the game but it is written in Japanese on the title screen for all games so if you know that the answer is always there. Thanks for watching and lali ho
One day planning to LP all main Final Fantasy entries... never given four much of a look, but this video's got me pretty excited for it now :P
That’s awesome!! Never gave much of a look to 4? I always thought it was pretty popular. Anyway good luck and tempt not the fates! Rally ho! 💎
I just finished replaying FFIV a few weeks ago. And I’m currently showing footage I captured with my Mother since I really like a lot of the early Final Fantasy games and wanted to show why it is I like them.
And while FFIV is not the first FF game I’ve played. The first one that I played was FFX, it was actually the first one I was able to complete.
And on the DS which is said to be one of if not the hardest Final Fantasy Games. Which would explain why I was able to beat the rest of them so easily.
Also I had no idea that this week was the 30th Anniversary of FFIV, that’s perfect timing since we're still watching the cutscenes of FFIV this week.
Great video!
That’s a cool idea! Rally ho!💎
@@GTV-Japan Thanks!
Other than a few factual inaccuracies, this was a very well done 30th Anniversary tribute and was a pleasure to watch, thanks for the upload.
What was inaccurate? Thanks for watching lali ho!💎
Underrated channel. Very well edited and I love the little commercials you use for FF4. Great stuff!
Thanks I’m glad you liked it! Are you the same George Liquor from Ren & Stimpy? Thanks for watching and lali ho!!
I had played the original Dragon Warrior and a few other NES RPGs, but the SNES version of Final Fantasy II was one of the first RPGs that really captured my imagination. I saw it and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest in the same week. One of my closest friends had borrowed it from a neighbor of his who had loads of games, and I watched him play up to becoming a Paladin spending the night. The next day, we visited his neighbor, because he had just gotten Street Fighter II, and he had Mystic Quest as well, and we watched him play Pazuzu's tower. That week put Final Fantasy on my radar.
Later, I bought my own copy of Final Fantasy II off of a coworker T my first job at a Taco Bell. I will never forget. I paid him $40, and I lent him my copy of Earthbound and the strategy guide. He quit and stole my Earthbound, which was my favorite game. This was before cell phones were ubiquitous, and I could never track him down. I did buy a used copy of Earthbound, but the strategy guide was beat up compared to my pristine original. To this day, I have 2 big Earthbound boxes as a result.
Final Fantasy II later became my brother's favorite game for awhile. We used to sit in my bedroom while he played, and comically read the dialogue out loud. He was Rosa, and his falsetto "Oh, Cecil!" will always be hilariously outstanding in my mind.
Wow thanks for sharing your story! Sounds like you earned it! 💎
This video's quality warrants SO MANY more views than what it has currently. Thank you very much for this excellent content! This is broadcast network level quality, well done.
Thanks I appreciate that! This video should get more viewed soon. It is very new after all. As far as UA-cam analytics goes this is the highest watched video on my channel as fast as view duration goes so once it goes through the first wave of recommendations I’m sure it will take off. So we shall see. Thanks for the support and lali ho! (Or hi ho if you’re in tomra)💎
Loved this game growing up, it was my introduction both to rpgs and final fantasy. I found a gba copy in the park.
Ha! Who’d leave that behind?
@@GTV-Japan Some unlucky kid.. it was near the swings, sticking out of the woodchips... I still have the cart...one of my best gaming memories.
@DM-xx9fr should’ve taken better care!
An outstanding retrospective! Serves as a great reward after you beat the game :)
Thanks for watching! I’ll be putting out FF5 in about one month if you liked that game too!
I'd have to say that the DS version is my favorite. They did a great job with the visuals, voice acting, and cut scenes. I also enjoyed the upped difficulty, as I like my games challenging.
Yeah it was pretty good! Rally ho!💎
Same here! I'm hoping it gets a Switch port at some point.
@@FeralInferno ^_^
the second best Final fantasy of all time
Which is #1 for you?
The greatest of all Final Fantasies. I can't even describe in words the experience I had with this masterpiece. FF1 was a little too much for me as a young kid. I rented it once and borrowed it from a friend as well, but not having the manual and map prevented me from figuring out where to go and what to do. I did not encounter this problem with FF2 for the SNES, the difficulty was just right for a kid my age. Cecil f'n Harvey and his journey hooked me from the start. People can rant all they want about FF3 for the SNES and FF7 for the PS1, but this is the game that made me a fan of rpgs. The box-art for this game is also legendary, it draws eyes like no other (except maybe Mega Man 1). This is one of the greatest games of all time and in my personal "Top-5" list of all games.
P.S. I always use the spoon on Odin instead of saving it for Zeromus...need to deal with that mofo real quick.
I thought you just use ramuh to stop Odin?
@@GTV-Japan I always have Edge throw the spoon to get his health down and then have Rydia use Lit3 when Odin raises his sword up into the air.
P.S. I hope your next Fantasy video is on the good, really long one and not on the really dumb one with the broken 3,000-job system.
Oh that is a good strategy. I will cover ff 5 and 6 in due time but just not yet
@@GTV-Japan To me, its FF1-3, then it jumps to FF7...and then it ends, that's it. Out of the classic 6, I feel we got the only 3 worth getting.
They were certainly the most playable but the remastered versions show those other games aren’t so bad. 2d FF3 is pretty fun
Chocobos whip-pan toward one another: NANI?!
This may be my favorite Japanese Final Fantasy commercial.
I know I love it! I think this one was made a little after the game was out to show that the viewer should have known already. Thanks for watching and Lali-ho!
This was absolutely wonderful! Thank you - can't wait to re-re-re-re-revisit FFIV when the Pixel Remasters hit PlayStation (hopefully sooner than) later this year
Yeah me too! What’s the hold up???! 🗡️
4 is my absolute favorite
The game that kindled my love for RPGs!
You and many more! Rally ho!
Final Fantasy IV is still my favorite to this day. I can play any version of this game and still have as much fun with it now as i did the first time got through it on my SNES!
Hey Jay! Good to see you back! Same here. It’s always like Xmas day every time I start up again. Thanks for watching and lali ho!💎
@@GTV-Japan I may not catch every episode on time but I always try my best to never miss a vid. Another great one as always, lali ho!☺️
I make them to last forever so take your time. And say hi-ho whenever you see me in Tomra!
I owe so much to this game. It still has the best soundtrack in the series (and my favorite VG OST ever). I play through FFIV annually. I’ll never let myself forget it.
Thanks for watching lali ho!💎
This was the game that started it all for me regarding the Final Fantasy franchise.
A good place to start! Rally ho!💎
I have an older brother which is how I ended up playing this as a kid. I'm pretty sure I didn't really understand what was going on when I played it but I loved it. I literally was like the ultimate 90s kid in that commercial whose dad wants him to go do something and he's like "no waaayyy man let me finish this level." Made us late for school or something once - I vividly remember it was in the underworld with the dwarves - and FF2(IV) literally became the reason we couldn't play games in the morning as kids afterward.
That’s a great story thanks for sharing! The good thing about rpgs is that there is no “this level” in a traditional sense. So of course the game can go on forever! Rally ho!💎
@@GTV-Japan Yeah in hindsight it would be more accurate to say in my case that we were trying to get to the next save point before we went to school. I really remember it vividly lol.
Well at least we had parents that understood getting to the save point. At least understand the plight if not the concept!
While it may not be my personal favourite Final Fantasy, that title belongs to FFIX, IV holds a really special place in my heart, especially the 3D remake. I owe my love of Dragoons to Kain lol. I almost wish there was another Final Fantasy title that implemented a 5-character party, but I don't think it'd be as well utilized as it was here.
On a different note, I really wished that the 3D remake set the standard, as I would've loved to see Bartz, Terra, and even Zidane in that style with complete voice acting. I know that's more than likely the last thing from a priority for Square Enix, but it never hurts to hold onto hope.
Oh, and one last thing. Not sure if this counts, but technically speaking, my first exposure to FFIV was actually with the Culex boss fight in Super Mario RPG. Man, even to this day IV's boss theme is my favourite in the entire series.
I agree after FFIV on DS I was expecting remakes of all of them. Sadly it never happened 💎
thanks for doing this video for my all time favorite game of the series. it means alot to me
You’re welcome! V and VI coming in the future too
I've mentioned this several times now but since I lived in aus I missed out on most jrpg's, but managed to get hold of final fantasy 6 and absolutely LOVED it. It wasn't until many years later following the awesome final fantasy 7 that I ended up getting hold of the anthology and playing through both 4 and 5. Thanks to this video I bought the psp after years collection and tonight, have just ascended to the moon again. The themes in this game are so amazing, hollow earth theory, crystaline structures on the moon...all inspired by real life no doubt :) actually all the themes of the early jrpgs are what got me into things like archeology (illusion of time) astronomy (phantasy star) and holllow earth (terranigma). Great video mate, loved it
That’s very cool! Enjoy the game man!!
Deeply enjoying this video, thank you so much for your hard work. Quick note at 3:10, Final Fantasy Legends (as released in NA) series were the SaGa games in Japan, with Final Fantasy Adventure (In NA) being the first Seiken Densetsu game. Very easy mistake to make due to naming conventions, but actually two vastly different series.
Yeah I know. I go into more detail about that later. And it is soooo confusing. Much easier to just call them all FF and have fun with it. Thanks for watching 💎
@@GTV-Japan Working through the video during my workday, so I apologize if you reconcile this later on. Again incredible quality and effort in this and all of your videos. I really respect what you do. Thanks for sharing your enthusiastic work with us, it's always a great time.
I didn’t realize it but I guess one sentence got chopped up but oh well we all make mistakes
"You spoony Gajillionaire!!"
Really enjoyed this. This was a landmark game for me in the 1990s. One of the first I beat as a kid.
That’s great to hear. I actually only beat it a few times. It made it to zeromus over and over. That final battle was hard! Lali ho!💎
I loved this game more than you can imagine back in the day.
I did also like FF1 but this game is what made me a FF fan. The graphics, the music and the story were unprecedented at the time.
Another thing people don't seem to mention about this game (and later FF games) is that even though they're RPGs they have the pacing of an action game. Not just the Active Time Battle but also the fact that there is no need to grind and the plot is always moving forward giving you a new objective to accomplish. If it wasn't for this fast-paced style, I don't think FF7 would have been as popular. Unfortunately, Final Fantasy games have changed so much that this formula doesn't exist anymore.
Totally agree with you and the guides Nintendo made even paced it like there were stages to the game. I loved the graphical upgrades. Especially the clocks and candles that had motion in the background! Thanks for watching and lali ho!
Man this is by far the best FFIV retrospective in the whole youtube 👏👏 I Thought I knew everything but you introduced me to many uknown facts & easter eggsthat i wouldn't have found by myself 😁 I hope that you will create more retrospectives about our favourite and beloved FF games 😍
Thanks! I’m glad you liked it. I will make a few more ff vids in the future dont worry
FF4, or FF2 we called it as kids, was always my favourite.
I have paladin and dark knight Cecil sprites as tattoos :)
Oh wow that’s cool! 💎
Great retrospective! Although I was slightly disappointed to not see UA-camr Spoony mentioned during the origins of the word spoony part, he named himself after that line!
Sorry I don’t know who that Spoony is. However I know Tracy Morgan called one of his Crank Yankers characters Spoony Love from Up Above.
This is a massive video dude. Awesome stuff! I never got to beat the game, the monsters on the moon totally kicked my ass back then. Kinda good to see how it went off.
Thanks old friend for liking the video! I made it to the moon dozens of times but only beat it a few times. Actually the game is pretty easy to make thru until the moon yeah for sure. I think I beat it once on snes and once on PlayStation maybe my brother also beat it on snes but fuzzy memories. Have a good weekend! Lali ho! 💎
I was 12 or 13 when I first got this game. I owned the original but never beat it. Was going through some stuff back then, so this game was an escape for me. Something about the story, the characters, the music, the world just captured my imagination. I completely fell in love with everything about this game, and the day I beat it and saw that ending for the first time was one of the absolute highlights of my pre-teen years. And it took forever...I lost to Zeromus dozens of times before leveling up enough and understanding how to defeat him. Perhaps more profound than the emotional experience was the fact that this game inspired me to write my own stories, and the first thing I ever wrote was a sequel to this. It was terrible of course, I was 13, but thirty years later I've got two books published and have written two award-winning screenplays, so...I think it stuck! And I can't articulate the experience of buying my son FFIV for the DS and watching him play it for the first time, running up to me when Kain turns on Cecil or when he learns Golbez is Cecil's brother. Seeing those old plot twists through his young eyes was refreshing. Now he's moved out but this remains one of his favorite games, too. Square did something truly extraordinary here.
This is another fantastic video; so much great content, lovingly researched and presented in a clear, professional, compelling way. Gonna keep binging on these. Thank you for the care and effort in these vids, they're fantastic.
Thanks for sharing your story! It’s great to hear how the game is a part of your life
You are one of my favorite channels on this site, I really enjoy seeing the Japanese commercials, and remembering how horrible the marketing was for gaming in the west was sometimes in the 90s. Honestly don't enjoy a lot of the modern final fantasy games, and 4 and 6 are easily my favorite in the series. Hope you will cover the Mana series in the future!
If I can find the time, maybe Mana can be done! But the list for 23 is already so long
@@GTV-Japan fair enough, I understand, maybe someday you can get to it, as both it and the chrono series needs new entries. I'm glad trials of mana got released in the west, but i really didn't like the attempt at 3d.
I can say that someday I’ll cover the entire final fantasy series and the major spin-offs saga mana trigger and racing! It might take 10 years but sure!
Liked just for the ostriches in the Japanese commercials. Their arc was riveting and integral to FFIV's success.
Certainly so! 🦤
I can’t wait to play final fantasy IV when I get my psp version hopefully soon. Man i absolutely love this video and your history of gaming videos, keep up the good work.
That’s a pretty good version! Enjoy it. Thanks for liking the videos. I’ll start working on ff5 soon enough!!
@@GTV-Japan that’s awesome and I can’t wait to see final fantasy V probably get me interesting to playing V in the future as I am a big fan of the final fantasy series
It probably won’t be the same but focus more on gameplay and the classes
@@GTV-Japan yeah as it focuses on the different jobs and the engaging combat which I absolutely love but can’t wait to experience whenever I get the game
What’s keeping ya? Go get it today
This video is a gift. Love it so much!! This game means so very much to me.
You’re welcome! It was one of my favs and one of the last snes games I ever had so it means a lot to me too. Thanks for watching and lali ho! 💎
Ok you told me in a comment that you were working on this one earlier this year so I've been looking forward to it. I gotta admit, this blew my expectations out of the water. What an absolute joy it was to watch this. This is easily my favorite game of all time, I've played through almost every remake and the story and adventure always feel brand new to me. It's just such a great game, and as always your mini documentary on it was amazing! I even learned a few things I never knew, like that the secret boss version of Zeromus in the GBA game was the one from the JP easy version. And you're telling me now that the word tsundere, which every otaku worth their salt knows is the origin of Edward being "spoony"? Granted the word's connotation has undoubtedly evolved since 1991, it's still funny to think of him alongside other anime characters you think of when you hear the word. In any case, this has been my favorite of your videos so far. It's definitely gonna be in my rewatch rotation.
Thank you so much for this incredible work, GTV-san!
(Oh and one final thing in this overly long comment, thank you also for emphasizing the difference between ATB and turn based. So many people call ATB rpgs turn based, and it's a minor pet peeve of mine. It's so refreshing when someone knows the difference.)
Thanks I’m glad you like the video and it met your expectations!! Being in Japan I’ve seen some people try to translate things into English using spoony. Of course they don’t know what they’re saying but yea I’ve known this a while now. I do like the redesigned zeromus actually. He looks like something real and dangerous instead of some strange alien shell or whatever As for ATB yeah it isn’t turn based if you don’t have time to take turns. Personally I hated ATB and was so happy when true turn based returned for ffx! But I will admit it makes things seem more real. Thanks for watching as always! Rally ho!💎
Cant wait for the next final fantasy instalment ❤️❤️❤️ Brilliant and impeccably executed video as always
Thanks! I’ll make FF5 next year for sure
I'm new to your channel. It makes me feel happy again. 🥰
Great! Welcome! And nice timing because in a few days I’ll start writing the script for FF5
FF IV was my first FF. I played for the first time when I was 6 on a SNES emulator on PS2.
I expended countless hours playing with my gramma trying to figure out where to go after the tragedy on Rydia's village since we didn't knew any english that the time.
I remember vividly booting the PS2 day after day just to hear the songs again. I didn't get to finish the game until 2018 when I got a used DS from my mom. It was so fun to finally played again, even tho gramma is not here anymore.
FF IV was the one who made me fall in love with the franchise. Am so happy for it to be my first one.
That’s a cool story thanks for sharing!! 💎
@@GTV-Japan Thank YOU for making us such great content on this platform, its truly amazing to see such in depth essays💖
You’re welcome! I’ll keep at it
I love these videos! I can't wait for Final Fantasy VI!
April 2 2024!
...that fade in to the Redwings theme. The most epic opening to a video game ev...well.. it rivals Ninja Gaiden 2 on NES.
Yes I agree! I can’t think of many that come close. Thanks for watching rally ho!
Man I love this game.
I borrowed Final Fantasy X from a friend back in the day and absolutely loved the story. It made me laugh and cry both in the same scenes multiple times. This was due to the translation differences. While the audio was the regular english translation the german subtiles I was reading were from the original japanese version. It was hilarious to read the difference between the different versions. Afterwards I borrowed FF X-2 from a different friend and that was... different. The story felt like a bad fanfiction written by a 12 year old girl. So then my goal became to play every final fantasy game and decide which was the best.
My next game was final fantasy 3 on the DS. There was not a whole lot of story but the choices with the different classes made the game incredible in terms of gameplay. So after beating part 3 which could I possibly choose next?
This was when I bought Final Fantasy 4 for the Nintendo DS and I was blown away. It was very different from the 3rd game. The focus on story was a very welcome edition to my gaming expirience. Also during the animated cutscenes the game had voiceacting which was at an extremly high quality. Having to rebuild your team every time you get separated was cool. Some say that Kain betraying you multiple times was bad storytelling and unimaginitive. While I understand that problem I felt so relieved every time Kain came back because I F*CKING love the Dragoneer class and Kain had such a cool aura I couldn't stay mad at him for long. My favorite part was when Edge got his full strength. When you first get Edge I was so mad. I wanted to keep Yang and in his place I got this useless piece of work Edge. He was so god damm weak I wanted to get rid of him so badly. That was of course until you face the firefiend and he starts teasing Edge that anger is a weakness. "If you think anger is a weakness. Than I will show you how weak I am." -Edges full power has been enabled.
Still one of my absolute favorite moments in the entire series. And I played through the game so many times.
I also played the After years on the Wii which I enjoyed mostly. Except for the part where they make you fight EVERY BOSS that was based on a 2D sprite from previous games. I went nuts beating like 40 bosses or something.
I wish I could play that spritebased version for the PSP on a modern plattform. The artstyle looks gorgeous.
I never played other versions of Final Fantasy 4 but maybe I should. Just to see where it all came from and I do have the SNES game on a multicard.
Thanks for sharing such a great comment!💎
My entry into the FF series and JRPGs as a whole. FF 3/6 is my fav FF, but FF 2/4 carries serious, undeniable weight with me (I'm still a Phantasy Star guy at the end of the day). I've watched many takes on this game, and this video gives it the most respect, no question. I may not speak for everyone, but please GTV, find some way to sell out and get sponsors so you can be adequately compensated for your incredible work
Thanks for the kind words! Im also a phantasy star guy too but the sheer number of games makes FF a better series in some regards. There’s always more to play. As for selling out. I can’t do it. Just click on the ads. I get money from that. Even if I was paid a million dollars I wouldn’t want some junk ad for a mobile game or electric razor clogging up this video. Also since the watch time of this video is the longest ever on the channel I’ll be going back to more FF games in the future and of course revisit phantasy star when the time is right 💎lali ho!
Beautiful documentary! I would only use the world "JRPG" instead of "RPG" when talking about the western world not knowing the genre in the 80s, or FFVII being the first game to break through commercially: the Ultima series, Eye of the Beholder, Dungeon Master, etc. etc. were massive hits way before 1997. Kudos for the excellent work anyway!!
I’m glad you liked it! Thanks!
I will never unsee chocobos as ostriches now.
It’s a very funny campaign. They showed no game footage and it probably took an hour or two to film. Lali ho!💎
I can't tell if the chocobo commercial was actually intended to influence sales or if it was just a weird flex
I’m sure it was both. I can imagine all you had to do was say “now on sale” and people would line up
another great video. I remember beating this game in my early teens. I haven’t really revisited it. Maybe it’s time though.
I think you should!💎
i can speak to the truth to the price of RPGs back then, i got FF2 (US 2) for my birthday when it was new and though i was young i remember hearing my mom saying how much more expensive it was compared to every other games there was at the time. she really loved me and i miss her a lot
Excellent job on the retrospective.
Thanks Kevin!
Big fan of your work. I coudln't stop luaghing at the intro when you said "this is GTV ....ラリホー". The little melody that followed, what was that from? it sound sounds familiar. Great stuff!
That’s the humming way song!! 🐰
I always include some kind of sound effect and phrase from the topic at the start of each video to pump up the audience! Thanks for being a big fan and supporting the channel! Rally ho!💎
Well, this is pretty much definitive. Great job!
Thanks I’m glad you liked it lali ho!
This is so amazing, i'm loss of words of how describe how much i loved it!
Please, consider making a special about Quintet games, or Xenogears!
I can tell you that Quintet is on the list for 2022! Enough people requested it so expect it near the start of next season! Sorry for such a long wait but the pipeline is already backed up 😞
@@GTV-Japan That is so amazing to hear! the waiting will be worth it! Quintet made some of my all time favorite games, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Time/Gaia and the masterpiece Terranigma! And of course the games after the Quintet era like Grandstream Saga or Orphen are also great and obscure.
Thank you for your amazing work!
Well I think covering the five best and calling it quintets quintet would be a good idea!
@@GTV-Japan Yeah but you should mention also the story of the company, their games and specially of Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, who previously worked on Falcom on the first 2 Ys games and founded the company after.
Yeah I’m sure I will